The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released the “IAB 250 Powered by Dun & Bradstreet”. The IAB 250 Powered by Dun & Bradstreet” is a first-of-its-kind analysis that pinpoints the most important “Direct Brands” to watch in the US economy. The trade association for the digital media and marketing industries issued the directory at its IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, in advance of its publication of “The Rise of the 21st Century Brand Economy,” a groundbreaking study identifying supply chain, consumption, communications, and data trends that are shifting the center of growth in the American consumer economy.

IAB 250 Reveals the Direct Brands that Are Reshaping the Attention Economy

At the time of this announcement, Randall Rothenberg, CEO, IAB, said, “We have entered a new era of brand creation—one in which ‘Direct Brands’ are not just nipping at the heels of traditional brands, but forging strong customer relationships, winning meaningful marketing share, and reshaping the way startups and incumbents alike are taking consumer goods and services to market.”

Randall added, “The ‘IAB 250 Powered by Dun & Bradstreet’ will be a vital resource in tracking those ‘Direct Brand’ companies that are excelling across various categories, whether selling bed linen or pet food or eyeglasses. These are businesses that all brands, publishers, technology companies, and data providers need on their radar in order to thrive in the new direct brand economy.’

How are ‘Direct Brands’ Identified?

“Direct Brands” identified in the IAB 250 roster include the cosmetics company Glossier, the luggage company Away Travel, and the mattress company Casper, for example. Sometimes referred to as “digitally native vertical brands,” such companies are characterized by their reliance on digital storefronts that sell only their own branded goods, product development cycles continuously enriched by first-party data from their consumers, expertise in social media communications, and a marketing mix that blends highly scaled and targeted programmatic advertising with lifestyle-focused content marketing.

Although many such companies deliver goods directly to consumers, other “Direct Brands,” such as boutique craft breweries, still sell primarily at retail but consider first-party data-gathering and analysis a core capability.

The association finds that such “Direct Brands” are gradually supplanting the “Indirect Brands” that have dominated the consumer economy since its origins in the late 1870s.

Companies on the list were selected through screening firmographic and economic attributes, derived from Dun & Bradstreet’s vast data set of over 290 million business records. This includes core data (Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number®, Business Name), the industry classification (SIC Code), employees, and corporate revenue. In addition, payment experience and inquiry data on these entities were used to create a look-alike model to scan the D-U-N-S universe of all entities.

Additionally, companies on the list were selected for their cultural impact, which was provided by a variety of data sources and includes factors like traffic to their digital properties, social media footprint, media mentions, and more.

The list covers 15 different categories; from apparel/fashion to consumer electronics and sporting goods to travel and hospitality, spotlighting a range of “Direct Brand” upstarts and brand incumbents that have successfully tapped into the direct brand movement. For example, here are the companies that made the cut in the pet care sector:

BarkBox

Ollie

The Farmer’s Dog

Michael Bird, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Global Alliances, Partnerships and Audience Solutions, Dun & Bradstreet, said, “The massive collision of commercial data and digital technologies gives business leaders the insights they always wished they had. By exploring the data that illuminates relationships among these companies and their paths to—suppliers, vendors, marketing efforts—IAB members will have a robust and highly targeted list of companies to use for their business development efforts.”

Chris Kuist, Senior Vice President, Research and Impact, IAB, added, “This list of 250 disruptors just scratches the surface of what the direct brand revolution is unleashing on the consumer landscape.”

Chris mentioned, “Taking a deeper look at these diverse businesses, it becomes clear that their methods for engaging customers with genuine two-way relationships are a guidepost. Their strategies will inform the future of the consumer economy.”

Methodology to Identify ‘IAB 250’

Brands were identified through the combination of their firmographic and economic attributes as represented in Dun & Bradstreet’s vast dataset, and their cultural buzz and impact (factors like traffic to their digital properties, their social media footprint, number of press mentions, etc.) from a variety of sources and vendors, including CB Insights.

IAB excluded brands from consideration if they did not create or curate physical products for purchase by consumers, or if their business model and/or supply chain did not align with the definition of a “direct brand,” as presented in the research.

Currently, The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership is comprised of more than 650 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising or marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing.